Do you remember when Boston won their championship? It was the year Garnett and Allen joined the team. It was also Rondo's second season when he only averaged 5.1 assists per game. For the most part as his assists numbers went up the winning percentage of the games he played went down. Info from http://www.basketball-reference.com/ 2006 21-57 .269 3.8 ast 2007 62-15 .805 5.1 ast 2008 62-18 .775 8.2 ast 2009 49-32 .605 9.8 ast 2010 47-21 .691 11.2 ast * SHAQ season 2011 31-22 .585 11.7 ast 2012 18-20 .474 11.1 ast This is what happens when your 1st, 2nd and 3rd options start getting past their prime and the PG can't or won't pick up the scoring load. So how is Rondo going to help a team without reliable shooters? Howard isn't going to suddenly become Hakeem and develop a polished post game or turnaround jumper and score 30ppg. If you get Rondo you need to nuke the coaching staff and change the way the team plays.
My only concern about rondo was that he couldn't shoot, but the grantland article makes me feel better about that. Rondo would makes contenders this year and has the personality to play with Harden.
Man, I'm sorry but the way you reach your conclusions about these stats is similar to those guys who say the recent polar vortex proves that there's "global cooling." Yes, Rondo's assists went up as he gained more experience and improved as a player, but to correlate his improvement with their declining win % is ludicrous. Are you seriously faulting Rondo for not being able to fill the shoes of THREE DECLINING HALL OF FAMERS? Boston won less because of the big 3 aging, the need to give them extended rest, and KG's recurring injuries. Still, despite all that, Rondo was a huge part of their amazing 2010 playoff run, and literally carried them on his back to being 48 minutes away from another NBA finals appearance in 2012 (a feat he might have achieved the previous year as well, had Wade not tried to murder him). Without Rondo, Boston's big 3 would've been considered washed up bad contracts 3 years ago. Rondo is the reason Boston is set to have an amazing rebuild with all the picks they got for Pierce and KG, who now look like they need a senior citizen discount.
Rondo does need shooters around him to be effective because his jumper is too inconsistent to rely on. I still can't believe Celts asked him to win the game for them last night, on his first game back from injury. I knew the outcome. The feud with Ray Allen was more about Allen's ego than anything Rondo did (Ray said Rondo was "looking him off"). But they did have to be separated in the locker room so the feud was real. Ray and Pierce were cordial but not close. They argued about on court strategies. The argument with Doc looked bad on television but players argue with coaches all the time. But Rondo's no angel. He was suspended twice by the league. I said this already in another thread but the Celtics aren't desperate and they own a ton of picks. Why would they trade away a franchise player like Rondo for Asik and/or Lin? If healthy, Rondo's worth more than that. And I am one of the few here who actually believes in both Asik and Lin and think both are very good players...just not vintage Rondo good. I am new here so I guess I don't fully understand what Morey is doing. But the end result is fueling IMO unrealistic expectations and a disconnect. Is it really reasonable for Rocket fans to expect a championship when the player personnel keeps changing year to year? Why add more pieces now? Why the hurry? The panic? After monster acquisitions like Harden and Howard, one year apart, wouldn't it be better to take a break, step back, and let these new players jell. Adding a third star now is only going to delay the jelling process another year.
Why would Ainge want Lin when he has Rondo, and Lin would cost his owner MORE. Why would he trade Rondo without forcing a team to take Gerald Wallace? Why would he want Asik before he's even figured out the core of the rebuild? If you're Boston, why would you trade away a franchise player who actually wants to be there? Marquee free agents are not trying to go to a cold city with no nightlife and a rep as a racist city. They're in the same boat as Indiana & Utah, they have to build through the draft.
Rondo definitely would be an upgrade. It would cost a lot though. The sensible approach is to get a better coach, trade Asik and Lin away, get a SF defender who can shoot the 3, sign a steady PG who can defend and shoot the 3. So cap wise, find the right SF for 8 mil, the right PG for 6 mil.
The amazing part of this - we won't win a championship with Beverley as a starting point-guard, neither with Lin.
Another fluff piece on Rondo but pretty interesting stuff regarding his personality and intellect on and off the court. bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/15/rajon-rondo-has-future-coaching/LjRCsv7NAkkxnrFRV6iCIJ/story.html
Both of them are better than George Hill or Chalmers. What we lack is an actual half-court offense, defensive philosophy, and structure. We have no identity beyond transition 3's and drives into the lane. Newsflash guys: OKC & Indiana can shut both down. Kidd works in the Princeton/Motion. Fisher works in the triangle, Gary Payton doesn't. We need to actually run our system in the half-court before we start talking about who does and doesn't work. Where's the legendary Harden-Howard PnR? Where's the ball movement? It feels like we only run our system after a blowout loss. And by the way, Rondo challenges everything. Doc Rivers is no slouch when it comes to game strategy, and they locked horns. He would dismantle McHale. http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2008/12/tales-of-kevin-mchales-hilarious-coaching/
This comment 5-years ago looks awfully similar: ClydeSays • 5 years ago Watched the 4th quarter of the TWolves/Jazz game with McHale on the bench. It was ugly. The Wolves had one open jumper after another and couldn't hit. The Jazz meanwhile stayed in the game and finally broke through. It's hard to tell how bad a coach McHale is. He's got young players who can't execute down the stretch. Those players also don't defend consistantly, if at all. Glen Taylor needs to recognize that he needs a serious house cleaning.
No Rondo We need a PG that can drive and consistently make 3s when the defense collapses on Harden and Howard. I really wish we didn't get rid of Dragic and Lowry. Can Eric Gordon play point? He seems to want out of NO. I think that would be a better fit than Rondo.
First of all, Duncan is a center, so you would expect them to shoot worse than a PG. Secondly, Duncan has only shot that poorly in his very worst seasons ever. Duncan's career FT% is 69.4% compared to Rondo's 62.1%......as a PG. There are only 3 PG's in the entire league who have shot more than 10 FT's who are shooting less than 65% from the line and literally 0 PG's under 70% who have played enough to qualify for the official stat rankings.
I can see Beverly as back up on a championship caliber team. I really do support Lin, but I dont see him being a starter on a championship contending team, whether it be Houston or anywhere else. Lin needs to grow some balls, and really work to improve his areas, it might take a couple years. Nash and Parker took a handful of seasons to be who they are today. I'm not saying Lin is going to be as good as them, so nobody overreact. Beverly cant lead a unit, hes just starting because Harden is the PG and Bev's a better "fit" with harden.
Knowing Rondos personality, i agree with you. Can you imagine post-game conferences? Rondo would call out Mchale on everything.
